Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term “partisan press” commonly describes a pattern of organizing competing journalism outlets along party lines, but may also represent a period in emerging national journalism systems. In creating and distributing news, publishers and editors may work within or make arrangements with parties, resulting in reportage that openly espouses the positions of leaders or factions (→  Party–Press Parallelism ; Political Communication ). In most countries, from France to Japan to the United States, Indonesia, and Senegal, some form of partisan or party-run press played a critical role in national political development. The partisan press, in both senses of the term, provides guidance to the general public and contributes to a country's political consciousness (→  Public Opinion ). Historically , partisan presses appeared in the process of national emergence. In 1766 in India, for example, a merchant displeased with the way the colonial powers regulated business attempted to establish the country's first newspaper, though the government quashed it before inaugural publication (→  Printer-Editors ). A few decades later, the bilingual Calcutta Gazette and the Bombay Gazette appeared, but acting as official voices of their respective governments ( Karkhanis 1981 ). In other countries, such as Norway, newspapers would combat government intervention and oppression by taking such simple ... log in or subscribe to read full text